


May the Moment Last

by soulofpetrichor



Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Canon Compliant, Dead Man's Party - Freeform, Hearts of Stone (The Witcher 3 DLC), Light Angst, Post-Canon, Post-Hearts of Stone (The Witcher 3 DLC), Vlodimir von Everec - Freeform, because his name is misspelled in his character tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-06-06 03:30:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15185780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soulofpetrichor/pseuds/soulofpetrichor
Summary: After Redania is defeated by Nilfgaard in the third Northern War, Shani returns to Oxenfurt to resume work at her clinic. Feeling exceptionally lonely, she seeks solace in the company of an old friend.(Rated T for some light adult language)





	May the Moment Last

The months on the front line had passed by quickly for Shani. In Kaedwen, in Lormark, in Vizima, the work was always the same. She spent her days elbow-deep in the blood of Redanian and Nilfgaardian soldiers alike, stitching men painstakingly back together so they could be sent back to the front to be cut down all over again. At night, she sat round the fire with the soldiers from the unit she was accompanying, playing games of Gwent and swilling herbal liquor. Its bitter taste would still linger on her tongue when she arose the next morning.

At first she was glad to be leaving the battlefield behind her. After the death of King Radovid, the Redanian empire succumbed quickly to Emhyr’s superior strategy. She’d lost too many friends in the final battles, men she’d been traveling alongside for months, whose faces she’d grown accustomed to seeing around the campfire when she arose in the morning. Her heart felt heavy. She was sick to death of war.

Her house in Oxenfurt was just as she’d left it, albeit a bit musty and full of cobwebs. She set about cleaning the mess away. Within the week, her belongings were settled back in place and her clinic was fit to take patients again. At first, it was a wonderful reprieve to be treating simple ailments again, prescribing tonics for colds and treating minor cuts and bruises. Over the weeks, though, the work began to lose its luster. In her heart of hearts, she still loved helping people, but the small good she did in her clinic paled in comparison to the excitement and adrenaline of operating on a wounded soldier in a tattered tent while ballista bolts slammed into the ground just feet away.

Though the Academy had been reopened by Emhyr as soon as Nilfgaard had taken the city, not many of the students and faculty had returned. Many of them had perished on the front lines, conscripted into the Redanian army by Radovid in a last-ditch effort to increase the numbers in his ranks. A number of those who hadn’t had fled to the north, settling in Kovir and Poviss, far away from the center of the conflict. Many of her old friends had simply vanished, taking on new names and guises in order to escape the draft. Shani found herself feeling terribly lonely. When she closed her shop for the day, there was no one to share a drink and a game of cards with, no one to hold her when she awoke shaking in the middle of the night with flashes of the nightmares that plagued her still fading from her eyes. 

It took a few weeks for her resolve to break down, but break down it did. On a crisp autumn day, she closed the clinic early and donned the dress she’d worn to Aldona’s wedding when she’d attended with Geralt all those months ago. She dumped the vials and sketches that filled her satchel out on the bed and replaced them with candles, matches, incense, and a bottle of wine she’d been saving for a special occasion. Shani strode outside and locked the door behind her, rushing to get outside the city before she had a chance to change her mind.

~~~~~~

The Von Everec estate looked very different than it had when she last visited. The unnatural mist that had hung over the grounds had dispersed, and the sun shone brightly overhead. The weeds that had once choked the gates had been cut away, and the path that wound around toward the crypt had been groomed. Shani cast a wary eye in the direction of the manor, but the house was still in a state of disrepair and unfit for anyone to live in. Someone had chosen to have the grounds maintained, but perhaps more out of a sense of duty than anything else.

The entrance to the crypt, which she had once found eerie, no longer disturbed her. Flowers bloomed on creeping vines that grew up the side of the small stone building, and the small creek that rushed by below burbled pleasantly. The gate swung open with a creak under her touch as she descended into the mausoleum. The air in the crypt, which she had expected to be stale and mildewy, was surprisingly warm on her skin. She made her way to the central chamber, where she had found Geralt lying unconscious after he failed to return from the tomb. 

“Hello?” she said tentatively, and immediately felt foolish. The still air seemed to eat her words—not even an echo answered her greeting. The silence had an unnatural quality. She felt goosebumps raising on her arms and neck. 

An addition to the burial chamber caught her attention. In an alcove that had been empty the last time she visited, a small shrine had been erected. Examining it more closely, Shani could see that it was centered around an oil painting of a beautiful woman with black hair. She seemed almost alive, her somber eyes and wan smile betraying a terrible sadness. At the base of the painting was an ornate silver brush and a single dessicated rose. It looked as if it might crumble into dust at the slightest touch. The floor in front of the alcove was brushed clean of dirt, as if someone came and sat there often. 

_This must be Iris von Everec_ , she thought, touching the portrait lightly with her fingertips. _I wonder if Olgierd built this for her_.

Shani walked the perimeter of the chamber slowly, squinting to read the names inscribed on each coffin. At last, she came to one with a saber mounted in front of it. She traced her finger over the writing on the lid. “Vlodimir von Everec,” she said aloud. Though the air was warm, a sudden chill went through her. 

Shaking off the feeling, she shrugged her satchel off her shoulder and began to unpack the contents. The candles she placed wherever they would cast the most light—some on either side of the sarcophagus, some on the floor. She scattered some incense in the large basin in the center of the room and lit it, more because she felt like that was something you should do when visiting a ghost than anything else.

Shani sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the coffin, leaning back against the wall and inhaling the smoky scent of the incense. Retrieving the wine bottle from her satchel, she deftly plucked the cork from its neck and poured a large measure into each of two glasses she’d brought with her. She took a deep draught from one of them and inhaled deeply, steadying herself.

“Vlodimir?” There was no response. “Vlodimir von Everec?” Her voice sounded tiny in the cavernous room. Shani suddenly felt foolish. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected to happen—when Vlodimir had come with her to Aldona’s wedding, she hadn’t been able to see or hear him unless he was inside Geralt’s body.

A bone-chilling cold washed over her, as if someone had just poured a bucket of ice water over her head. “Hello?” she called out uncertainly. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the faintest ripple in the smoke that rose steadily from the smoldering incense. “I suppose I’ll have to assume that’s you, Vlodimir.” She relaxed back against the wall, contemplating the cup in her hand.

“I not certain why I came here. Perhaps I’ve grown tired of stitching people back together, or perhaps I’m just lonely. But I do know that I had fun dancing with you.”

Though unable to be seen by Shani, the ghost of Vlodimir von Everec materialized opposite her. _“The pleasure was entirely mine, my strawberry,”_ Vlodimir said gallantly. _“I only regret that it was cut tragically short. A few more hours and we could have—”_ he broke off. _“Damn, I’d almost forgotten. You can’t hear a word I say, can you?”_ There was no reaction from Shani to any of his words. Vlodimir cursed. _“What good is it being handsome and charming if I can’t even caress the charms of a beautiful and willing woman?”_

“Listen,” Shani said, addressing a point several feet to the left of where Vlodimir was sitting. “I just wanted to say thank you…for a memorable evening. I can’t remember the last time I had that much fun. With the war going on, I certainly haven’t since.” She ran her finger along the rim of the second glass she’d poured. “You mentioned once that your brother came to visit you here. I thought I might bring you a drink, keep you company for a time. I suppose that’s silly.” She brushed the fringe of her ginger hair out of her eyes, flushing slightly with embarrassment. 

_“Ah, class and charm in equal measure. A man could fall head over heels for a lass like you.”_ Vlodimir stood and crossed the stone floor to sit against the wall beside her.

Shani sighed. “Did you mean all those things you said, Vlodimir? Or were you simply flattering me because time was short and I was the only choice available?”

 _“Of course not!”_ Vlodimir scoffed, offended by the accusation. _“Vlodimir von Everec would never deign to insult a lady in such a manner.”_

“It’s not for lack of trying, but—well, I just can’t seem to find a companion. Life at the academy can be rather isolated at times.” Shani’s mouth twisted in an expression of dismay.

 _“What about Geralt?”_ Vlodimir asked, gesturing widely. _“The man’s a boor, but he certainly seemed to care for you. Don’t tell me he managed to mess things up after I provided such expert assistance in winning your affection.”_

“This is stupid.” Shani shook her head, draining her glass and setting it down roughly on the floor beside her. Vlodimir placed his spectral hand over hers, uttering a sound of dismay when it passed straight through her slender fingers. 

_“Don’t fret, my dear rowan petal. One’s luck can always change. Look at me—ten years dead, and still enjoying the company of a supple beauty like you. A worthy suitor will appear. I only regret that I never had the opportunity—”_ he cleared his throat. _“No matter. It’s a crying shame we weren’t both alive at the same time, Shani. I’d have given you the world for a single caress of your perfect breasts.”_

Pouring herself another glass of wine, Shani ruminated on the health of her coping mechanisms. She could have spent the evening at the tavern, playing cards with the innkeep, but instead she’d decided to go on a date with a ghost. A ghost that was in all likelihood taking advantage of the fact that she couldn’t see or hear him by—

Shani glared at the space she imagined Vlodimir might be occupying. She was off by several feet, but he grinned upon seeing her fiery stare. _“I’ve always loved a woman with a temper. Keeps things interesting.”_ He looked at her approvingly. _“I’d wager you could hold your own in a brawl as well. Ah, to see it with my own eyes.”_

“Perhaps I should lower my standards,” Shani said to the empty room. “You’d think that I’d have had some success by now. Not like there’s any shortage of men in the army or in academia, yet still it seems that I can only ever bring home witchers and rogues.”

 _“What’s wrong with rogues?”_ Vlodimir replied, feigning offense. _“In my experience, they’re quite entertaining. And a dull lover is worse than none at all.”_

Shani drank deeply, mulling the oaky taste of the wine over her tongue. “What’s it like being dead, Vlodimir?” She thought about the sarcophagus sitting in the alcove above her head. “I imagine it isn’t something one would take in stride, but it hardly seemed to bother you.” How strange it was to think that the body of the man she was addressing was encased in heavy stone; by now, likely decomposed into bones or dust. She had seen plenty of death in her lifetime, held the hands of many men as their hearts beat their last. She’d never thought much about what happened next. Her scientific brain found it hard to accept anything without concrete evidence.

Vlodimir sighed. _“Ah, it could be worse. I’ll admit it’s quite boring most of the time. I miss the drinking, the fights, how Olgierd and I used to carouse until dawn. I miss the feeling of blood pumping through my veins as I swung my sword at a foe. Alas, those days are long gone, but it does me good to remember it. I can almost imagine what it felt like.”_ He made a fist as he spoke, gesturing with it to punctuate his speech.

Shani hummed a wistful tune to herself, rolling her cup back and forth in her hands. Sudden, unbidden tears welled up in her eyes, stinging as they spilled over. “I’m sorry,” she said, wiping them away hastily. “I don’t know why I’m crying. I think…” She took a deep, shaking breath. “I think I’m just tired. I think I have been for a long time.” 

_“Now, now, my strawberry,”_ Vlodimir said tenderly. _“Not another tear. Don’t spoil your lovely eyes.”_ He reached out a ghostly hand and cupped Shani’s face gently for a moment before leaning in and pressing a chaste kiss to her cheek. Shani inhaled sharply at the sudden cold that washed over her. Vlodimir traced a finger along her jawline as he let his hand fall. Goosebumps raised on her skin everywhere that he’d touched her.

Though the cold was all she could feel of Vlodimir’s touch, Shani felt somehow comforted. It was a strange sort of companionship, true, but it was meaningful all the same. She smiled wanly. 

“Thank you for being my friend, Vlodimir,” she said to the heavy air in the crypt. “And perhaps—perhaps we’ll meet again someday. I think I’d like that.” She raised her cup in a toast. “To tonight—may the moment last.”

Vlodimir smiled, his eyes tracing the fine features of her face. _“May the moment last.”_

**Author's Note:**

> If you're interested in some beautiful Witcher-esque music to accompany this story, I highly recommend checking out [this song](https://youtu.be/l0Cl7w1UNcc) by Andrey Vinogradov. It fits in beautifully with the Hearts of Stone soundtrack and the tone strongly influenced this work.
> 
> Thank you for reading! Shani and Vlodimir are featured in fanfic so rarely and I enjoyed writing this story about them. I'd love to hear what you thought.


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